TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Somehow, the political parties give the impression of being totally unprepared to run in the 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial election. There seems to be no serious effort to groom a candidate to challenge Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, the incumbent better known as Ahok. Some parties only decided on their candidates just before the actual registration deadline, after day-and-night lobbying efforts went down to the wire.

Surprisingly, they were still able to produce candidates who appear genuinely capable of challenging the popular Ahok and running mate Djarot Saiful Hidayat. Endorsed by the Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) and the Justice and Prosperity (PKS) parties, the team of former education and culture minister Anies Baswedan and businessman Sandiaga Uno, for example, was only finalized at the home of Prabowo Subianto's parents in South Jakarta.

Four other parties the Democrats, National Mandate (PAN), United Development (PPP) and National Awakening (PKB) had already announced their support for Agus Harimurti, a son of former President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, and running mate Sylviana Murni, a Jakarta deputy governor in charge of tourism and culture, in front of Yudhoyono's Cikeas residence after failing to persuade Gerindra and PKS to join the coalition.

As usual, the groups of parties do not appear to espouse any particular ideology but have been drawn together out of pragmatic interest. But what made it interesting is the role of such figures as Prabowo and Yudhoyono in the rush to produce viable candidates, with Yudhoyono pulling the biggest surprise of all by shepherding his son away from a promising military career and into politics.

The other side, comprising the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), Golkar, the National Democratic Party (NasDem) and the People's Conscience Party (Hanura), put its weight behind the Ahok-Djarot ticket. That may have been an exercise in practical politics as well, but PDI-P leader Megawati Soekarnoputri only announced her support on the day before the deadline.

Such a long, drawn-out process is lamentable. Rather than engaging in an unseemly last-minute scramble, parties should be better prepared to groom candidates. After all, the Jakarta gubernatorial election is a barometer of national politics. Two years ago, PDI-P won the legislative as well as the presidential elections following its victory in the 2012 Jakarta governor's race.

The upcoming Jakarta election can also be regarded as a test of the maturity of our democracy. Just how far have people left behind primordial prejudices such as religion and race when they go to the polls next February? During the 2014 election, this factor was not tested because the central figure at the time was Jokowi, not Ahok.

All this demonstrates the weakness of political parties in their recruitment of cadres. It is time they improved such a vital function instead of staging what amounts to an auction when regional elections roll around. Their failure to so this has been evident for some years. As a consequence, they lack the confidence to nominate their own candidates for fear of losing.

Golkar, which has often championed its own people in the distant past, has suffered significant setbacks in recent regional elections. PDI-P, on the other hand, have done quite well by nominating outsiders. For example, out of the 150 candidates endorsed by PDI-P for top regional posts in 2009, only 20 percent came from their own rank and file. The rest were new faces.

Surely, parties should now be encouraged to be more reflective. There's nothing wrong in endorsing someone from outside the party. But if this step is to be taken, it should be done systematically and with a lot of advanced planning. Funds should be raised and allocated for the candidate's campaign. He or she should not have to pay a dowry for the privilege something that often prompts parties to choose candidates on the strength of their wealth and not much else.

But with such an ad hoc data-style of selection, the final candidate ends up having little time to prepare. In the next few months, the two teams of challengers will have to study the many problems besetting Indonesia's sprawling capital city. They can only do that if they can come up with a program or programs that promise something new and different.

Ahok looks hard to beat given all his achievements, which include the reorganization of the bureaucracy, the cleanup of the Ciliwung River and other rubbish-choked waterways and the progress made in establishing an integrated public transportation system. But he is still beatable if his 50 percent standing in the polls is any guide.

His opponents will have to work extra hard, though, if they are to have any chance of winning. Within a short time, they must be able to convince the public that they are as capable as he has been and continues to be. Indeed, the Anies-Sandiaga and Agus-Syviana tickets will have to show they are able to go one better in making Jakarta a better place to live in. That's a big task in the short time available. (*)

Read the full story in this week's edition of Tempo English Magazine